5 ms·

MapGive - Open Mapping from the US State Dept.

113 points by chippy 13y ago

joshwd 13y ago
This looks like a great project, and nice to see them supporting OSM. Google gets (rightfully) lauded for offering quite good maps[1] of much of the developing world, but I recently checked out the OSM map[2] of the city I live in (Dakar, Senegal) and it's just as good, if not better. Bing Maps[3], by comparison, thinks there are 2 roads in the entire city. [1]https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d104828!2d-17.3959701!3d14.7291303 https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d104828!... [2]http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/14.7286/-17.4508 http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/14.7286/-17.4508 [3]http://binged.it/1iUjAGi http://binged.it/1iUjAGi
- milliams 13y ago
  I often use http://tools.geofabrik.de/mc/?lon=-17.41738&lat=14.73861&zoom=12&num=3&mt0=mapnik&mt1=google-map&mt2=bing-map http://tools.geofabrik.de/mc/?lon=-17.41738&lat=14.73861&zoo... when comparing between the different map providers.
  - joshwd 13y ago
    Wow, great tool, thanks!
  - 51Cards 13y ago
    Of the three initial examples, only Bing marked the Atlantic Ocean. At least they had that detail. (though they do have a road running right through the airport... win some, lose some)
    - saraid216 13y ago
      > Of the three initial examples, only Bing marked the Atlantic Ocean. Start zooming out. At one tick out, none of the maps mark the Atlantic Ocean. Because the label isn't in the viewport.
      - chatman 13y ago
        Perhaps you didn't get the sarcasm. ;-)
        saraid216 13y ago
        I'll just start assuming everything people say on HN is sarcasm.
  - ToastyMallows 13y ago
    Wow this is awesome. Thanks for sharing!
welder 13y ago
I wonder if there is a way to automate this using Google maps and places data...
- mejackreed 13y ago
  On some level, certain things could be automated but: 1. It definitely violates Google's TOS: https://developers.google.com/maps/terms https://developers.google.com/maps/terms 2. Also, in my opinion is contrary to the spirit of the OSM community A more powerful approach would be providing resources and tools for teachers and students to map their communities and places around the world. The map data becomes more robust, and students get a great opportunity to learn about new places and geography.
  - welder 13y ago
    How about showing the equivalent Google map when editing an OSM map?
    - Doctor_Fegg 13y ago
      Nope. That'd be an invitation to copy Google's copyrighted data, which defeats the whole point of OSM.
- welder 13y ago
  Why so many downvotes? Can't ask legitimate questions on HN anymore?
  - BHSPitMonkey 13y ago
    Doesn't appear downvoted to me.
    - welder 13y ago
      It was -5 but now it's +1.
  - 13y ago
joelgrus 13y ago
"Quality geographic data helps empower killing drones ... I mean, organizations and communities!"
- yardie 13y ago
  While I believe you are being facetious, I'll bite. Yes, it also means that schoolhouses will no longer be confused with military bunkers. And diplomatic consulates won't be confused for depots [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._bombing_of_the_Chinese_embassy_in_Belgrade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._bombing_of_the_Chinese_emb...
- SEJeff 13y ago
  Certainly not from this. The military most def (via the NRO) has their own "classified" maps for all of these sorts of things. If you think the US military is using google maps or OSM data for this, you are sadly mistaken. I know this first hand having flown a non-weaponized drone ~12ish hours per day for a year overseas. - Former Shadow 200 TUAV Operator with 482 combat flight hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2004.
31reasons 13y ago
So the problem of converting Satellite data to Maps is still not possible with algorithms ? Google is able to find all Cat photos in the youtube videos, how about finding streets ?
- yincrash 13y ago
  Are you sure they don't already do this, and just only use it on Google Maps?
- ZeroGravitas 13y ago
  There's various algorithm in use for OSM, eg click in the middle of a lake and it'll trace the outline for you based on color, but going from a satellite image to a map requires both a human and other sources of info, generally.
- chippy 13y ago
  From what I gather there is a number of algorithms that work pretty well, but only on certain datasets and for certain parts of the world. For example, one approach could be flawless to extract highways and on and off ramps in the US, but the same algorithm may struggle with French roads. What I am excited about within the context of open data and crowdsourcing is using machines to do a rough first pass over the imagery, and get people to rate or fix the results. A wonderful example of this is the New York Public Library's Building Inspector: http://buildinginspector.nypl.org/ http://buildinginspector.nypl.org/
davexunit 13y ago
What a nice project. This is the kind of thing that I like to see the US government supporting. Now to find the time to learn to map something.

113 points by chippy 13y ago

This looks like a great project, and nice to see them supporting OSM. Google gets (rightfully) lauded for offering quite good maps[1] of much of the developing world, but I recently checked out the OSM map[2] of the city I live in (Dakar, Senegal) and it's just as good, if not better. Bing Maps[3], by comparison, thinks there are 2 roads in the entire city. [1]https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d104828!2d-17.3959701!3d14.7291303 https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d104828!... [2]http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/14.7286/-17.4508 http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/14.7286/-17.4508 [3]http://binged.it/1iUjAGi http://binged.it/1iUjAGi

milliams 13y ago
I often use http://tools.geofabrik.de/mc/?lon=-17.41738&lat=14.73861&zoom=12&num=3&mt0=mapnik&mt1=google-map&mt2=bing-map http://tools.geofabrik.de/mc/?lon=-17.41738&lat=14.73861&zoo... when comparing between the different map providers.
- joshwd 13y ago
  Wow, great tool, thanks!
- 51Cards 13y ago
  Of the three initial examples, only Bing marked the Atlantic Ocean. At least they had that detail. (though they do have a road running right through the airport... win some, lose some)
  - saraid216 13y ago
    > Of the three initial examples, only Bing marked the Atlantic Ocean. Start zooming out. At one tick out, none of the maps mark the Atlantic Ocean. Because the label isn't in the viewport.
    - chatman 13y ago
      Perhaps you didn't get the sarcasm. ;-)
      - saraid216 13y ago
        I'll just start assuming everything people say on HN is sarcasm.
- ToastyMallows 13y ago
  Wow this is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

welder 13y ago

I wonder if there is a way to automate this using Google maps and places data...

mejackreed 13y ago
On some level, certain things could be automated but: 1. It definitely violates Google's TOS: https://developers.google.com/maps/terms https://developers.google.com/maps/terms 2. Also, in my opinion is contrary to the spirit of the OSM community A more powerful approach would be providing resources and tools for teachers and students to map their communities and places around the world. The map data becomes more robust, and students get a great opportunity to learn about new places and geography.
- welder 13y ago
  How about showing the equivalent Google map when editing an OSM map?
  - Doctor_Fegg 13y ago
    Nope. That'd be an invitation to copy Google's copyrighted data, which defeats the whole point of OSM.
welder 13y ago
Why so many downvotes? Can't ask legitimate questions on HN anymore?
- BHSPitMonkey 13y ago
  Doesn't appear downvoted to me.
  - welder 13y ago
    It was -5 but now it's +1.
- 13y ago

joelgrus 13y ago

"Quality geographic data helps empower killing drones ... I mean, organizations and communities!"

yardie 13y ago
While I believe you are being facetious, I'll bite. Yes, it also means that schoolhouses will no longer be confused with military bunkers. And diplomatic consulates won't be confused for depots [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._bombing_of_the_Chinese_embassy_in_Belgrade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._bombing_of_the_Chinese_emb...
SEJeff 13y ago
Certainly not from this. The military most def (via the NRO) has their own "classified" maps for all of these sorts of things. If you think the US military is using google maps or OSM data for this, you are sadly mistaken. I know this first hand having flown a non-weaponized drone ~12ish hours per day for a year overseas. - Former Shadow 200 TUAV Operator with 482 combat flight hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2004.

31reasons 13y ago

So the problem of converting Satellite data to Maps is still not possible with algorithms ? Google is able to find all Cat photos in the youtube videos, how about finding streets ?

yincrash 13y ago
Are you sure they don't already do this, and just only use it on Google Maps?
ZeroGravitas 13y ago
There's various algorithm in use for OSM, eg click in the middle of a lake and it'll trace the outline for you based on color, but going from a satellite image to a map requires both a human and other sources of info, generally.
chippy 13y ago
From what I gather there is a number of algorithms that work pretty well, but only on certain datasets and for certain parts of the world. For example, one approach could be flawless to extract highways and on and off ramps in the US, but the same algorithm may struggle with French roads. What I am excited about within the context of open data and crowdsourcing is using machines to do a rough first pass over the imagery, and get people to rate or fix the results. A wonderful example of this is the New York Public Library's Building Inspector: http://buildinginspector.nypl.org/ http://buildinginspector.nypl.org/

davexunit 13y ago

What a nice project. This is the kind of thing that I like to see the US government supporting. Now to find the time to learn to map something.